Friday, August 29, 2008
For teams looking for an NCAA tournament birth and an excellent season, first thing first: take care of weaker opponents.
That’s exactly what the Kansas Volleyball team is looking to do this weekend, as they enter the VCU Invitational for the third season in a row, opening with Virginia Commonwealth tonight and finishing up with North Carolina State Saturday morning.
They Jayhawks should be favored in both games, with its opponents combined record from last season an abysmal 15-50. NC State had just 3 victories last season, and a 28 game losing streak.
Even with their disastrous season a year ago, coach Ray Bechard isn’t going to let his Jayhawk team be complacent for the tournament.
“It’s very important that if we set a tone on how we want to play, we can be very successful this weekend,” Bechard said. “But we have to pay attention to the things we’ve been concentrating on the past couple of weeks.”
Bechard also noted how both VCU and NC State were looking to make a “jump” this year. Like the Jayhawks, VCU returns 5 starters and NC State hopes to improve its young core, which gained a lot of experience last season.
The Jayhawks, however, fall into the middle ground with a solid core of both young and talented freshmen and sophomores, and experienced and battle-tested seniors such as Natalie Uhart and Savannah Noyes. It’s how the newer players handle the college game that will swing the favor of the Jayhawks season—something Bechard will look for in this tournament.
“We’ll have a couple of freshmen playing quite a bit,” Bechard said. “We got a few of those jitters out against the alumni, but until you really put them out there against an opponent, you can’t tell for sure.”
Allison Mayfield, one of those talented freshmen looking to get substantial playing time this weekend, hopes to get rid of some of those jitters and experience an actual college game and not just a scrimmage.
“I’m trying to work on the nerves, and get them all out this weekend,” Mayfield said. “It’s a lot bigger than high school, so there’s nerves.”
Besides getting the usual butterflies out for the first game of the season, Bechard said he knows you can’t predict everything you’ll encounter your first time out.
“You see some things that you will expect, and might not expect,” Bechard said. “We’re excited to play, and looking forward to the opportunity.”
Senior middle blocker Noyes said she believed the team was well prepared and it was hungry to open the season strong. The Jayhawks have been consistent in August under Bechard, registering a 12-4 record during his tenure.
Noyes said that passing, setting the tempo and being fearless would be keys for winning the tournament.
“After the alumni match, we figured out where we were struggling,” Noyes said. “We’ve been working on them this week and I think we’re well prepared.”
— — Edited by Brieun Scott
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